


of fathers and flowers

by WickedSong



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Loire-Leonhart Fam Feels, Post-Canon, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 12:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18031940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedSong/pseuds/WickedSong
Summary: “I amnotjealous, especially not of Elle,” Laguna retorted, as he folded his arms and leaned back on his chair. “And just because Squall and Rinoa are past the ‘in sickness and health, on Earth and in space’ part of the vows, doesn’t mean they’re ready forthis.“Laguna Loire, before and after Squall and Rinoa say'I do'.





	of fathers and flowers

**Author's Note:**

> -This ranges from fluffy family stuff to wistful to a little cheesy near the end. I've had drafts of this idea for years, and after finishing my annual replay of this game, I finally went and decided to finish it. Is it any good? I will let you guys be the judges of that.
> 
> -It might be a little silly, but I'm trying this new thing where I just write what I want to write and post it, and I'm quite enjoying it, thank you very much!
> 
> -Saying that, I do hope you enjoy this too! :)

News of the engagement had flown fast to Esthar’s Presidential Palace, and the President himself, not least because Elle had cried in delight to hear of Squall finally asking Rinoa to marry him. Laguna, in his capacity as President, sent along formal congratulations to the pair, but wondered if anything more familiar than that would be out of place, or unwanted.

Years later, and his relationship with Squall was better now, at least than it had been before,

but there were still some bridges too far to cross – at least yet.

Laguna thought attending Squall’s wedding day might be one of those. And a lack of an invitation only made him believe that perhaps Squall thought the same too.

“Aren’t they a bit young anyway?” Laguna asked Kiros, on the day that Elle had excitedly told him she would be a bridesmaid at the upcoming nuptials.

Laguna hadn’t had the heart to tell her that he hadn’t even been invited. Instead, he had hugged her, with all the enthusiasm he could muster, happy that at least she was happy.

“…”

Of _course_ it was Ward who first answered Laguna’s question.

“I think you're deflecting too, Laguna” commented Kiros, with a shrug to Ward. " _Someone's_ just jealous that they don’t even have an invitation yet.”

Ward nodded his head.

“…”

“You’re right about _that_ too Ward,” Kiros added, before turning to Laguna. “Those two went through time and space to be together. Surely you knew this day was coming, Laguna.”

“I am _not_ jealous, especially not of Elle,” Laguna retorted, as he folded his arms and leaned back on his chair. “And just because Squall and Rinoa are past the ‘in sickness and health, on Earth and in space’ part of the vows, doesn’t mean they’re ready for _this_.“

“Laguna, you _do_ know that’s not how the vows-“

But whatever Kiros was going to say was cut off by the shrill ringing of the phone. Laguna sighed in quiet relief, as he picked up the receiver, that he might not have to think about it any further, at least for the time being.

“President Loire,” he said, by way of introduction, as Kiros and Ward both rolled their eyes at him.

“Good morning, Mr President,” said his secretary over the line, “Commander Leonhart from Balamb Garden is on the line and wishes to speak with you. He said it wasn’t urgent, but asked if the call could be put through straight away.”

Laguna adjusted the receiver against his ear, intently. There was a sudden, and erratic, beat to his heart – something commonplace when it came to matters regarding Squall.

He hadn’t been around for the first seventeen years of his son’s life, and though some would say he forfeited his right to worry about Squall because of that, he couldn’t help _but_ worry.

He said it wasn’t an urgent, but was something wrong?

Why else would _Squall_ , of all people, contact _him_ this early in the morning?

“Of course, put him through.”

While the lines transferred, Laguna sent a shrug to Kiros and Ward.

“Squall,” he mouthed to them, and it was their turn to look confused now too.

When finally, the hold music stopped, Laguna took a deep breath.

“Squall,” he said, as cheerfully as he could. “I wasn’t expecting a call from you today.”

“I wasn’t really expecting to make the call either,” Squall admitted, over the line, with a slight sigh. “As you know, Rinoa and I are-“

“Getting married,” finished Laguna, eagerly.

Yes, the pair _were_ still young, but they had faced things that could’ve torn apart any other couple, when they’d only first met. For years now too, they’d handled the realities of a life together, however harsh they might’ve been at times.

“I couldn’t be happier for you both, so-Squall.”

Laguna met Kiros’ knowing eyes and Ward’s smile, at his admission, shaking his head at his friends. After all these years, he knew he should’ve trusted _them_ to know him better than he sometimes knew himself.

Before Squall could continue, there was a woman, calling in the background. As indistinct as it was, Laguna could tell it was Rinoa, almost immediately.

“I’m just asking him,” Squall called back, to her. “I’m sorry about that, Laguna.”

“No problem. Now, what can the President of Esthar do for you today?”

The question was met with silence, and for a moment Laguna wondered if Squall had disconnected the call. Worse, he worried that _he_ had accidentally disconnected it. It wouldn’t be the first time. Until, that was, Squall cleared his throat over the line.

“Well, Rinoa told me that she’s asked Ellone to be a bridesmaid, and then I realised I hadn’t…”

“Hadn’t what?”

“I didn’t mean to leave it this long,” Squall continued. “But Rinoa and I would really appreciate it if you would come to the wedding.”

Again, Rinoa shouted something in the background. This time, it sounded louder, and so Laguna held the phone away from his ear for a moment until she stopped.

He heard Squall laugh. Laguna smiled at the sound – strangely so much like Raine’s - before adjusting the receiver back to his ear.

“We _were_ going to ask you, when you and Ellone visit next week – Kiros and Ward too – but Rinoa thought you might be offended if we left it any longer.”

“I would be honoured, Squall, truly.”

“That’s good,” Squall replied, as stiffly as Laguna expected.

“Good,” repeated Laguna, swallowing down the lump in his throat. Unlike his son it wasn’t unusual for him to get emotional, and he was afraid if he tried to say anything else he might start blubbering to Squall down the line.

He knew that would be awkward for everyone.

Still, only mere years ago, Laguna couldn’t have imagined something this wonderful.

“I have to go,” Squall said. “But we’ll see you next week?”

“Next week,” Laguna confirmed. “Elle and I can’t wait.” He looked up to Ward and Kiros, who both folded their arms. “The guys too, of course.”

Laguna shrugged his shoulders at his snickering friends.

He and Squall said their goodbyes, and Laguna put the phone down. Kiros and Ward watched him expectantly, and just as suddenly, Laguna felt himself jump to his feet.

“We have to make this the best wedding ever!”

He left the room, hoping to find Elle on the way to tell her the good news. He thought too, it might be worth asking Selphie if there was anything he could help with, when they visited the Garden next week.

“…”

He heard Kiros laugh behind him, as he and Ward followed along.

“He was _definitely_ jealous.”

* * *

 

“Don’t you want to look nice for your son’s big day?”

Laguna raised an eyebrow at Elle, who looked as though she might burst into a fit of giggles at any moment. With folded arms the young woman, who he thought of as a daughter, examined him carefully.

He brought a hand up, to fiddle with the awkward bow tie, while another hand was stuffed defiantly in the trousers of the trouser pocket.

Laguna already hated the damn monkey suit, but he couldn’t deny Elle anything.

And how she _knew_ it.

“I think it suits you, Laguna,” Kiros muttered, from across the room.

“…”

“Yeah, Ward, I never thought we’d get him in something so fancy ever again, either.”

His focus now diverted from the bow tie, at least for the time being, Laguna ran a hand through his hair, and shrugged at his companions.

“I wear those dress robes,” he argued, pointing to the ensemble Ward wore. Kiros snorted in response.

“Only when the occasion demands it. And I mean _demands_ it,” he replied. “We could always explore that option for the wedding. Couldn’t we, Ellone?”

Laguna groaned internally, at the thought, and held both hands up, as if it would stop the wheels he could already see turning in Elle’s mind.

“This’ll do,” he finally said, accepting defeat in this particular battle.

Elle tilted her head, and smiled sweetly, though Laguna knew that _she_ knew she would eventually get her way. She had a knack for it, since she was a child, and it was one particular talent Laguna thought she’d never grow out of.

She nodded her head, clapping her hands together, delightfully.

“You look amazing, Uncle Laguna,” she insisted. “If only Raine could see you now.”

“She’d wonder who the idiot in the suit was,” muttered Laguna, with a smirk.

He hadn’t worn anything this fancy on his _own_ wedding day, at all.

Quickly, Elle’s smile turned to a playful scowl, reminiscent of years gone by when she was the Assistant Commander, and he her dutiful Monster Hunter of Winhill.

The look on her face too was the same pout, too, that she’d worn whenever asking him for something that Raine had already said no too.

Laguna chuckled, at the memory, and finally found, after some fiddling, some comfort with the bow tie around his neck.

He stopped, and smiled, at Elle.

“You know what?” he said, a rare moment of quiet, in the midst of such a happy and raucous afternoon. “I think Raine would _love_ it.”

Elle’s excited cheer, and teary-eyed smile was all he needed to know that he was right.

* * *

 

Laguna found Squall in the training center, exactly where Cid thought he would be. Though he’d thought long and hard what he might say when he finally found his son – maybe a joke, maybe some long overdue fatherly ‘wisdom’ – Laguna was struck speechless, instead.

After all, this was his _son_. Five years had passed, since he even discovered he had one and not a day went by where he still wasn’t astounded by the man before him – all he had grown to be, and all he still might be.

He fought with such ease that Laguna hadn’t even thought to jump in and help him out.

Not that Elle had let him bring his machine gun with him anyway. Apparently such things were unnecessary for a wedding, and it had been yet another battle Laguna let her win on the day they left Esthar.

“Aren’t you going to say anything,” a voice asked; loud enough to jolt Laguna out of his thoughts, and he realised that Squall had finished slicing through the monsters, and was now inspecting his prized gunblade.

“Just that you’re going to make a mess of your uniform if you keep going at this rate,” replied Laguna, quickly, and with a small chuckle.

He really did have to stop underestimating the instincts of a SeeD, and especially one clearly as capable as his son. 

There was a smirk playing on Squall’s lips, when he finally turned around to face him.

“Nervous habit,” Squall confessed, while looking at the scene around him, and giving a wry tilt of his head. “Though, I think you’re right that no one would appreciate if I showed up today covered in monster guts.”

Squall dusted off the shoulder of his SeeD uniform, then the trouser leg, examining his boots intently, until he was content that there wasn’t a single mark.

“Well, Cid did say you’d be either here, or trying to find that Seifer kid so you could take your nerves on _him_ ,” Laguna admitted, with a shrug. “I’m glad you at least chose this.”

“So am I,” Squall replied, with a slight smile, as he shook his head.

“And what have you got to be so nervous about, huh?” Laguna wondered, walking towards him, and noticing, on closer inspection, that Squall’s uniform wasn’t quite as impeccable as he’d first thought.

Grabbing the handkerchief from the top pocket of the suit, Laguna wiped along the edge of Squall’s collar, where a green mark had been left.

“Most likely from a Grat,” Squall muttered. “Glad you caught that. Selphie might've killed me if you hadn't.”

Laguna chuckled, agreeing with his assessment with a shrug, as he stepped away, and stuffed the handkerchief back into the jacket’s top pocket.

It was messy, not folded as pristine as had it been only hours before, and Elle, or Kiros, might chastise him for it later, but Laguna couldn’t find it in him to care.

"Thanks Laguna."

And it seemed like there might be something _more_  Squall wanted to say, but it stayed hidden under the surface, and, like many of their conversations in the past, Laguna didn’t think he quite had the right to pry.

For now, however, _this_ moment was enough.

Laguna tilted his head towards the training center exit and, though Squall gazed at it, somewhat apprehensively, Laguna knew his son held no true doubts about what he was going to do today.

In that way, Laguna thought the two of them might have more in common than they’d ever thought.

“You know,” he began, as they trekked towards the exit, “I was a mess on the day I married your mother.”

“That’s not hard to imagine at all.”

Laguna laughed at the deadpan statement, and placed a hand on Squall’s shoulder. He expected the usually-stoic young man to pull away, and so, was surprised when he didn’t. Laguna sighed, contently, as they continued walking, amiably along.

“Well, you don’t have to imagine, ‘cause I’m gonna tell you _all_ about it.”

* * *

 

Gentle music played from the corner of the ballroom, as Laguna swayed with Elle in his arms. It was meant to be a waltz, but he’d given up on keeping up with the rhythm long ago, and so spun her out, and then back in. Elle laughed, even as she narrowly missed bumping into other people gliding across the floor.

“Uncle Laguna, you’re doing it wrong and you know it,” she chided, between giggles. It was a different sort of scolding from the serious ones she’d given him in Esthar, while she’d tried to teach him the steps.

“And there was a time _you_ once stepped on my toes,” Laguna retorted. “But I guess we can’t all be as perfect as you, can we _Miss Elle_?”

Elle scrunched up her face, in a look of mock-anger, but it could only last so long. Eventually, she broke, and burst out into a round of giggles again. She began to take the lead, guiding them so that they ended up at one of the nearby tables.

Laguna thought it was a good idea anyway. He didn’t think he could justify colliding with yet another couple on the floor, and especially not after his near-miss with General Fury Caraway, though Rinoa, who’d been dancing with her stern-faced father, had laughed it off at the time.

Elle sat down, while Laguna rested a hand on the chair next to hers. He watched her smile, as she admired the centrepiece in the middle of the table. The same white flowers that adorned all of them.

“This was a nice touch,” Elle admitted, her fingers tracing them, as if she was afraid they might wilt if she dared to touch them.

“Almost cost me my life, too,” Laguna remarked, with a raised eyebrow.

Elle looked at him, her head tilted, as if to say he was just being dramatic. Laguna shook his head at her.

“I mean it,” he continued. “I went to Glynnis – you remember her, don’t you?” Elle nodded, at the mention of the woman who ran the flower shop. “I wanted to ask personally, especially after everything. She was ready to kill me until I explained they were for Squall. Even then, if I hadn’t offered her the amount of gil I had-“

Laguna let out a breath, while Elle sighed, heavily. Laguna knew that she was thinking about all the horrible things – most, he would say, justified by his absence – that the people of Winhill must have said about him after Raine died.

But this wasn’t the time to dwell on that, he knew. It made him wish he hadn’t said anything at all.

He caught Squall on the floor, looking at an ease that Laguna could have never imagined. Rinoa, the picture of beauty in her wedding dress, swayed in her husband’s arms and said something that prompted a light chuckle from the usually stoic Commander of SeeD.

Laguna sat down, next to a now-quiet Elle.

“I didn’t mean to make you sad,” he admitted. “I-“

“I just wish she could have been here,” Elle interrupted, with a small shake of her head and sad smile. “Of course I know you can’t change the past, but Raine said all she ever wanted for him – for _us_ – was to be happy. I wish she knew that we are.”

“She does,” Laguna told her, nodding his head, and placing a comforting hand on Elle’s shoulder. “Just like your folks, she’s looking down on us right now. I believe that, with all my heart.”

For a moment, Elle was silent. Then, she turned to him, with a brighter smile than before.

“I guess you’re right, Uncle Laguna.”

“I always am. You know that, Elle,” Laguna said, nudging her arm with his elbow, and a grin on his face.

Elle didn’t say anything, but the way she raised her eyebrow said enough. If Laguna was being honest, it reminded him of Raine.

The music stopped, for a brief time. Laguna stood, almost at attention, when he noticed Squall approaching them. Rinoa, Laguna could see, was off in the distance, talking animatedly to two young men Laguna couldn’t remember the names of; only that they were friends of hers from the Timber Resistance.

“You doing all right there, Squall?” Laguna asked, eagerly, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

Squall half-smiled in response, as he nodded.

“Rinoa’s busy talking to Zone and Watts,” Squall said, and Laguna nodded – of course, he thought, those were their names. “And I thought I would ask my sis for a dance before she kills me for _not_ asking.”

Elle rose from her seat, with an eager smile, straightening her bridesmaid dress. Laguna looked between them, smiling.

“You remembered my warning,” Elle teased, with a laugh, and she nodded. “Of course. It would be an honour.”

She went to go onto the floor, but Squall stopped abruptly and turned, looking to Laguna. Laguna watched him, expectantly.

“I just wanted to say thank you, Laguna,” Squall said, and this time there was nothing half-hearted about his smile, “for the flowers. Rinoa and I love them.”

For once, Laguna knew what was unspoken there, and he didn’t feel the need to say anything in return. He simply smiled back at his son, and then shooed Squall and Elle onto the dance floor, citing his old age as why he wouldn’t be joining them any time soon.

Not that it had been stopping Kiros or Ward the entire evening. But they’d always been better at that sort of thing anyway.

Laguna sat down at the table, and took one of the white flowers in his hands. They were Raine’s favourites, and she would spend many a day tending to them in the local flower shop. They were reversed in Winhill, much like she herself had been. Raine had been a special person, indeed, and it was in this moment, more than ever, that Laguna missed her, much like Elle had.

But he knew his words to Elle were true too.

Raine was with them; and he knew, no matter where she was, she’d be smiling.

 

**Author's Note:**

> -When I first wrote this, and it was ages ago that I had the initial idea that has changed a fair bit since, I thought I would end it with the Laguna/Squall scene in the Training Centre, but then it just didn't feel _finished_ , you know? I didn't especially love the ending, but I still really wanted to post this.
> 
> -And unfortunately, Laguna cannot pick up dancing in the span of a few minutes, like his son. Soz Laguna.
> 
> -Let me know what you think, and leave a wee comment/kudos if you want. As always, as long as you enjoyed it, I don't mind! :)


End file.
